Player-wise, there has been no bigger bust wearing a Bruins uniform
than center Alex Zhamnov, one of general manager Mike O’Connell’s top-dollar
free agent pickups during the offseason.

Having inked him to a three-year contract worth $4.1 million per year,
O’Connell was expecting leadership from the 14-year NHL veteran, but more
importantly, a solid No. 2 center behind the now-departed Joe Thornton.
He was counting on the gifted Russian to create another scoring line and
produce roughly a point a game. Prior to last night, the B’s had pretty
much gotten zippo from their prize hire.cw-1

You might say Zhamnov’s difficulties are one of the primary reasons
the B’s are trying to crawl out of a last-place hole; a predicament so
bad the GM sent his best player to San Jose to try and light a fire under
the team, and add more depth up front by bringing in three players, two
of which were forwards.

Well, last night, Zhamnov finally made a positive difference in a hockey
game. He didn’t quite have the same impact as goalie Hannu Toivonen, who
seems to own Toronto and is making a strong case to see the lion’s share
of the load over Andrew Raycroft. But Zhamnov did score his first goal
of the season in last night’s 4-1 win over the Maple Leafs at TD Banknorth
Garden, and it proved to be the game-winner.

In his 16 prior games, Zhamnov notched only six assists. But his goal
last night broke a 1-1 tie in the second period, changed the momentum,
came on the heels of the Leafs’ game-tying goal, and helped get the B’s
off on the right foot in this home-and-home series.

“It was a big goal for us and for him,” teammate Sergei Samsonov said.
“He’s one of our go-to guys and we need him to get going. Hopefully now,
it will come in bunches.”

At this stage, with Thornton gone and Patrice Bergeron still young,
it’s really up to Zhamnov to get it in gear if the club has any hope of
making the playoffs.

You could see the relief on his face after he slid a back-hander into
the open side of the net past Leafs goalie Mikael Tellqvist, who had blocked
a Brian Leetch shot. Zhamnov said half-kiddingly he almost blew the bunny.

“I almost lost the puck when I saw the empty net. I was maybe a little
nervous,” he said with a smile, “but I hope my bad luck is over now, and
I continue scoring and help this team win games.”

He was actually amusing after the game, joking that he was one of three
players on the team who hadn’t scored a goal - the other two being the
goalies.

On the serious side, Zhamnov is well aware of his standing in town and
knows what has to happen to change it. Given he was once traded to Chicago
for Jeremy Roenick, he understands the pressure on him to perform, and
it’s grown even greater now with Thornton gone.

“I probably put more pressure on myself than anyone, because I want
to help this team. If you don’t produce offensively, it’s frustrating,”
he said. “I think a lot of people are probably disappointed by the way
I’ve played. But the last few games, I think I’ve played better. I hope
I continue to play at the same level and help this team.”

If it’s possible, Zhamnov, who played in his 800th career game last
night, had gotten to the point where his confidence was shot. It had taken
him a while to get in shape since returning from the injury he suffered
in the final preseason game, but his lack of production started wearing
on him mentally.

“For sure, there was a lot of thinking all the time - ‘What’s going
on, what I should do,’ ” he said. “This is the worst slump of my career.
Like I said, I hope it’s over.”